fulger

Forms

fulger n (plural fulgere)^[1] The regional form sfulger (Oltenia, Banat sfulzer) is influenced by sfulgera; folk poetry also has a plural fulgeri: „fulgeri ies din ochii săi” “lightnings come from his eyes”.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fulger, from the oblique stem ⟨fulger-⟩ of fulgur (“lightning”) beside the usual ⟨fulgur-⟩.^{[5][3][6][1][4]} The stem ⟨fulger-⟩ is attested in Lucretius and in inscriptions, and Festus gives a nominative ⟨fulgus⟩.^[1][7] The Latin noun belongs with fulgeō (“to flash, lighten”).^[1]

Occitan folzer and Old French fuildre also go back to the stem ⟨fulger-⟩, while Italian folgore continues the stem ⟨fulgur-⟩.^[5][8] The Aromanian words are sfulgu, which Ciorănescu traces to Vulgar Latin *fulgus, and sfuldzir.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a document of 1489.^[9] In Romanian texts the word is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (early 16th century), with fulgerul “the lightning” at Psalm 76:18.^[10] MDA2's first record is Coresi's Tetraevanghel, where the coming of the Son of Man is compared to lightning that shines from east to west.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is the flash of an electric discharge in a storm.^[6][4] From the earliest texts it serves in comparisons of speed: iute ca fulgerul “quick as lightning”.^[4][9] Figuratively it is any sudden bright gleam, of swords or of eyes.^[4][6]

In the 19th and 20th centuries it became an attributive word for “very fast, sudden”: trenul fulger “the express train”, telegramă fulger “express telegram”, ședință fulger “snap meeting”, and many press compounds such as vizită-fulger.^[4][6][11] Fulger electronic is the flash of a camera.^[6] Regionally the word names a dodder (Cuscuta epithymum), and in Crișana a telegram.^[5][3][4] As a surname, Fulger is recorded in 1651.^[9]

Timeline

• 1489 – the first record, a document Tiktin cites.^[9]
• c. 1500–1520 – fulgerul “the lightning” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, Psalm 76:18.^[10]
• c. 1573–1578 – fulgerul in the Psaltirea Scheiană, Psalm 17.^[9]
• 1651 – Fulger as a personal name.^[9]
• 1660 – fulgerul glossing Slavonic молние “lightning” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[12]
• 1825 – fulger in the Lexicon de la Buda, glossed with Latin fulgur and fulmen.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. lightning: the flash of an electric discharge between two clouds or within a cloud;^[6] fulger globular “ball lightning”.^[6][1]
2. ca fulgerul, ca un fulger: as quick as lightning; suddenly.^[6]
3. In compounds, quick and sudden: ședință fulger “snap meeting”, telegramă fulger “express telegram”.^[6][3]
4. fulger electronic: a camera flash.^[6]
5. A strong, short gleam of light; a flash.^[6]
6. (regional, botany) A dodder (Cuscuta epithymum).^[3][5]

Word family

• fulgerește

Related words

• fulgera
• sfulgera
• străfulgera
• fulgerător
• Aromanian sfulgu
• Latin fulgur

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. fulger
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 950
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. fulger
5. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. fulger
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 418
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. fulgur
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3555
9. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. fulger
10. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 76:18
11. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. fulger
12. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. fulgerul
13. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 229